Holiday Lettings – How To Avoid Disappointment

If you are experienced in booking holiday lettings, you probably won’t need telling what to look out for.  However, as the trend increases for taking holidays in the UK, more and more people are coming into the holiday lettings market for the first time.  If you’re new to the process, it’s probably helpful to have some tips on how to avoid disappointment.

The main thing you need to keep in mind is that you don’t see your holiday let until you actually arrive to start your holiday – probably late at night.  So that’s when you get to find out what it’s actually like.  If there is anything that’s not to your liking, it’s really too late to do anything about it.  The pictures in the brochure or on the Web site are designed to make you fall in love with the property, not to alert you to problems.

So what kind of thing do you need to check in order to avoid disappointment?  Here are a few – old hands can probably supply more!

Parking.  Quite a lot of very pretty cottages in the middle of small country villages don’t actually have any space for car parking.  In many cases you have to park in the village car park some distance away – though you can usually unload your baggage at the door/gate.  If this is important to you, do make sure that the particulars explicitly state that there is parking available – either off-street or right outside.  If this isn’t actually stated, check it out.

Walking distance.  Often a brochure description will state that the beach, pub, shops etc. are “within walking distance.”   However, when you get there, you could find that “walking distance” is a very long way. If you have a toddler with you, or someone with walking difficulties, this could prove a problem and could actually spoil your holiday.   If this vague and meaningless term is used, you are quite within your rights to check with the advertiser what the actual distances are.  Sometimes, unfortunately, the description is designed to be deliberately misleading.

Dogs/children.  If you are going on holiday with dog(s) and/or children, you should check in advance what facilities are actually provided.  You have presumably ascertained that dogs are in fact allowed – the particulars will usually state YES or NO.  And the description will usually – though not always – make it clear whether there are children’s beds, bunk beds, high chairs etc.  But you would still be well advised to check how dog/child-friendly the property actually is.  Is there a garden?  This can make an enormous difference.  Does the door open straight out on to a road?  Is there a washing machine?  Are there eating-places nearby that explicitly welcome children?  Are there games provided for wet weather? And what is the layout of the property?  If you find that the rooms with the child beds are on the second floor, up two steep flights of stairs, while the only bathroom is on the ground floor, this can make things complicated – though the children may consider it fun!

Seclusion.  A property described as “secluded” may be very tempting, especially if you lead a hectic life and want some peace and quiet.  However you may not realise until you get there that it’s literally miles from anywhere, including places to eat.

Descriptions of holiday lettings can be very seductive and once you’ve booked, you spend months looking forward to your break.  It would be such a pity if your enjoyment  was spoilt because you hadn’t checked out the details.  Holiday lettings can provide the most delightful holidays imaginable – just make sure you get the holiday you are looking for.